There are as many ways to teach Theory of Knowledge as there are TOK teachers. Nobody has expertise and ease in every domain outlined in the Subject Guide. Nor is in-depth coverage possible within a 100 hour allocation. The 2015 Subject Guide recommends teaching only four, of the official eight, Ways of Knowing in depth, and only six, of eight, Areas of Knowledge. Accordingly, teachers make selections and teach to their strengths. The brave model the spirit of TOK by venturing outside “comfort zones.”

Beginning (and ending) a TOK course with clarity and aplomb is important. It may take several weeks before students are able to take in what the course is really all about. In particular, understanding the nuanced skill of formulating “Knowledge Questions” can only be developed over time.

INTRODUCTORY CLASSES

In the first minutes, even before introducing myself or going through the class list, I engage the class by actually doing some TOK. I start by asking the class to identify by touch alone three TOK relevant Mystery objects hidden in pillow cases. One of my students referred to this as “Ready…Fire, Aim!”

Having broken the ice with an intriguing upbeat activity, introductions are made. I briefly take the opportunity to point to the centrality of TOK in their IB Diploma subject hexagon and its relationship to CAS and the Extended Essay. I also remind them that the TOK experience resonates with the IB Learner Profile.

I save formal introduction of the relationship between Shared and Personal Knowledge, Knowledge Claims and Knowledge Questions, Ways of Knowing and Areas of Knowledge (and their frameworks) for the second or third class.

Next, I move to Common Agreements for class discussion emphasizing that much of TOK consists of questions, we are all responsible for content and, especially in a diverse group, disagreement is very likely.

I also like to present poems―by Walt Whitman and Wallace Stevens―that evoke the TOK experience and always generate lively class discussion.

REFLECTIONS ON THE TOK MINDSET

A TOK outlook is the opposite of feeling intimidated or bewildered by knowledge issues that always seem to be owned by somebody else. The TOK experience can demystify much of what passes for knowledge in the various academic disciplines. Accordingly, no work of art, literature or music; scientific announcement, historic controversy, mathematical argument, esoteric vocabulary, ethical conundrum or political complexity are forever off limits. If students develop a authentic sense of ownership of the edifice of human knowledge they will never feel alienated and pushed around by alien forces beyond their control.

Keeping these ideas in mind I tell the students unambiguously that it doesn’t matter how smart you think you might be compared to others in the room and it doesn’t matter what I as the teacher might have read or think. What matters is your own participation in the questioning and the discussions and gradually deepening your own understanding. I tell them that ultimately even their semester grades or final scores on the IB matrix are dwarfed by the importance of the critical thinking tools and mindset that they will take with them to college/university and beyond.

The students, as Whitman stated, “contain multitudes.” They are far bigger than any program―even a great one like the IB Diploma! In two years time, when the dust clears on the prescribed exigencies and particular nuances of TOK, what will count are a deeply rooted capacity for critical thought and the confidence to act―to be a player in the real world and actually make some kind of difference.